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Think of a renga, any renga, as a series of two stanza poems, rather than as one long 20 or 36 or 100 or 1,000 stanza poem. 

It is, rather, more like an anthology of collaborative poems that is written in a single sitting, alternating three and two line stanzas to create five line poems: 

1. Poem 1 consists of the renga's (three line) stanza 1 +   (two line) stanza 2

2. Poem 2 consists of the renga's   (two line) stanza 2 + (three line) stanza 3

3. Poem 3 consists of the renga's (three line) stanza 3 +   (two line) stanza 4

4. Poem 4 consists of the renga's   (two line) stanza 4 + (three line) stanza 5

5. etc., for as long as the poets agree to participate.

So the last stanza of one poem becomes the first stanza of the next poem, which is what "links" the two poems, like a linked chain. The poets simply write these stanzas, one at a time, sequentially around the circle of participating poets 

Any renga would make a lousy long, single poem," but the "anthology" that is a renga can turn up some gems that are like haikus (three line poems), couplets (two line poems) or tankas (five line poems). (We define these loosely.)